Sunday Morning Line with Len Hayward

Published 7:00 pm, Saturday, September 12, 2009

A few things to ponder as the south’s dominance in District 2-5A ended on Friday night:

n Friday night’s loss by Lee to Lubbock High is not necessarily a shocker considering that coach James Morton has had some trouble with the Westerners when he was at Lubbock Monterey.

What Friday night’s game did expose, though, and the Midland High game for that matter, is that Lee is leaving plenty of room for receivers to catch and run with the football.

And the worst part for the Rebels is that there are better passing teams ahead on the schedule, notably Amarillo Tascosa, Amarillo High and Odessa High. This week’s game against Lubbock Coronado for the Rebels will be a key week to see how their season will go.

A loss or a close win, could mean Lee will be in for a fight when it comes to making the playoffs. A solid win against a struggling Lubbock Coronado team will mean the Rebels have the ability to bounce back and make a run at the postseason. Time will tell, as most of the coaches in district know this playoff race is a marathon.

n Midland High, meanwhile, is still a work in progress on defense but anytime you get a win, especially a first win, it starts to build confidence. But after last week’s win by Lubbock High over Lee, the Bulldogs will likely be in a battle next Thursday at Lowery Field.

The offense, though, continues to show that it is one of the best in the district after rolling up more than 500 yards.

n Tyler Tannehill’s performance on Friday night against Pampa is one for the history books. Tannehill threw seven touchdown passes in the Steers’ wild win against the Harvesters.

I don’t even think his brother did that while at Big Spring.

n Now for the gearhead section. Legendary racer and car designer Jim Hall returned to the seat of one of his famous Chaparral race cars this past week at the Petroleum Museum. Hall took a few laps in one of the legendary cars that set a standard for engineering and aerodynamics that is still looked upon today as something special.

As a longtime race fan, it’s cool to have the Chaparral exhibit at the Petroleum Museum because it brings worldwide recognition to Midland. We may be known for our love of football, but some of the most innovative cars in the history of racing were built here.

n Football fans who like to also watch the buisness side of the sport need to pay attention to what is happening in the NFL in regards to the league’s labor negotiations. It looks like the union and the league are in for a nasty fight that could ultimately lead to a lockout for the 2011 season.

I see Roger Goodell trying to get some kind of deal in place, but it’s still hard to watch millionaire players and owners fight it out over millions while people in this country struggle to make ends meet. I hope they keep that in mind while they are arguing about how to divide up the millions.

The league is already seeing the effects of the recession with coming blackouts in some of the league’s smaller and less successful markets. The Cowboys will come out of this fine, but it will be interesting to see where Jerry Jones will fall on all of this.

He’s been a league guy on some issues and has bucked the league on others, but he does like to make money. And I’m sure he’ll love the uncapped year in 2010.

n And finally, I’m continuing to lose faith that anyone in District 2-5A can still play defense. Defense was a hallmark of big school football out here for years, but over the last decade it’s been the offenses that have taken control.

I’m not sure how this trend started, but the struggles on defense for many of the Class 5A teams around here could be a reason there hasn’t been as much playoff success. I know the proliferation of the spread offense has made a difference, but other teams around the state find ways to defense the spread.